Wiley Psychology
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Discussion Topics for Today's Classroom

Ex Machine Again: What Does it Suggest about the Field of AI

Description: I blogged about the movie Ex Machina just under a year ago in the context of talking about the stereotypes of masculinity and femininity typically portrayed in science fiction films. I ran across the blog post linked below this past weekend and found it to be quite interesting. The question to consider as you look at the article is what do our depictions of artificial intelligence in the work in developing artificial intelligence as presented in science fiction films like Ex Machina tell us about the nature of work being done or the nature of the factors and thoughts being considered. Maybe best to watch the movie at least once before considering what is basically the “psycho-philosophy” of this article.

So what does a story about an individual who artificially creates a “human” tell us about human cognition, human nature, views of self, views of creation or origin, basically about the question of why one might want to consider making an artificial the version of a human being on there so many other things one could be working on. In his blog on this topic Martin Robbins, considers these questions and more. While it is true that the general information processing theoretic approach to human cognition has its roots in the early versions of artificial intelligence within computer science there are bigger questions here. So open your mind read the article as you you think.

Questions for Discussion:

What do films like ex machine and tell us, or rather suggested to us, about the nature of human nature and cognition? Is there anything in this sort of reflection that is useful to psychology and if so to what part of psychology?

What other angles of analysis is Robbins suggest we take up in considering this film?

In the end, you see Ex Machina as a film playing industry with scientific cutting edge or as a cautionary tale about this area of investigation and about the people who go into it?